Bare
by Rue-Rikuto
Summary: Who is L? I don't mean the letter or even the great detective. Who is L the person? Why is he the way he is? This will show my interpretation of his life at Whammy's and the events, whether joyous or hurt-filled, that take place there and ultimately make him who he is. This story will alternate between L's past and the present day, along with points of view. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all, I am Rue-Rikuto. I hope you enjoy, and please review. It means a lot, and it is very encouraging. **

**Disclaimer: HA! I wish! But, no. I do not own Death Note. **

Prologue

"And L I still love you!" she gently cupped his face as she sobbed. Forcing him to look at her again. "And…maybe you could learn-" he interrupted her.

His normal analyzing gaze was not present anymore. Instead he just looked lost and unsure. "love me?" He questioned softly. He stared into her tear filled eyes. The bright emerald green light that they once held was now gone as well, and replaced with emptiness, uncertainty, and fear.

She started again. "Someday maybe...someday maybe you could learn to...love me too." He turned away from her gaze, unable to stand it any longer, and stared at the ground with wide eyes. Still fresh with shock and worry from what he had just been told. He took a few wandering steps away from her.

His eyes dashed around the floor. Looking. Searching for something. Searching for the answers that he could not figure out this time. Anything that could get him out of this situation, but all he could see was a blur of hardwood floors and scattered case files. How could he do this? How would he do it? How could he tell him, the person who inspired him the most and was a father to him, how? How could he tell her, the person he cared about more than anything, what he now had to do? How? How could he do that to her?...

She walked up slowly behind him. Her shaking hands passed under his arms and clasped around his waist. The warmth that she usually felt from his presence and touch was now gone. He felt cold. He felt distant. Which made her feel even more alone, even though he was standing right there in front of her.

"Maybe..." She squeezed for dear life, hoping and praying for a response from him, burying her head into his jacket. "Please..." She whispered as another tear fell from her eyes down her porcelain cheek and onto the cold hardwood floors and scattered case files.

**::Thank you for reading. More to come. Review and let me know what you think. -RR**


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, I hope you all enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **HA! I wish. No, I do not own Death Note.

Chapter 1

The sound of sirens was blaring through the streets of London. The snow was nearly 8 inches high already, and the storm didn't show any signs of letting up. The sirens got closer and closer to their destination. Blaring. Echoing off the buildings as they drove by. It was ironic. The snow was so pure and clean, and they knew that what they were headed toward would be anything but that. It would be destruction. And sure enough when they arrived, it truly was a horrible sight.

The big house on a hill, the one that everyone used to drive by and point in awe at, the one that held a family that only consisted of the three living in it, there was no records of any other family members but those three. The large brick house with white shutters and with a rock pathway and water fountain in the front yard, frozen over by the chilling weather. Yes, that beautiful house was their destination.

The flames were bursting through every window in the house, and the roof looked like it was just about to cave in. The fire fighters scrambled out of the truck and started getting to work quickly. Some started getting out the hose while a select few were told to quickly and safely venture inside as commands flew over the work.

Once inside, the men quickly looked around for any sight of the family that the house belonged to. Where was the family? Finally a young fire fighter caught a glimpse of two bodies embraced on the floor of what looked like the dining room. He quickly ran to them only to find that it was already too late. They really did look like a great couple. Why did this happen? And what of the other?

The young firefighter looked around again. Where was the third one? "What about the b-" a beam fell in front of the young man, interrupting his thoughts. "Come on! We gotta get out of here! She's gonna cave," said the senior officer in his thick British accent. The young fire fighter began to walk away when something caught his eye. A glimpse of what looked like dark hair was underneath a beam in the large living room.

The young man went over as quickly as possible as the flames kept building and building. The young man finally reached the beam and lifted it off of the small form underneath. "I found one!" He screamed into the flames for his team. No one answered. He didn't wait though. He picked up the small person gently and rushed him out of the house just in time to see the roof start to join the pile of rubble. He dashed towards the ambulance. "Hang in there kid." He whispered as he ran. His breathing was heavy and hot.

Dear God, this child was now an orphan. Who was going to tell him? How does one even go about telling a child that they lost their parents? The young fire fighter kept running.

"It's evil isn't it..." the man looked down at the source of the question.

"What?" he asked slowing his pace. The nurses were running to meet him, but he didn't even notice. He couldn't take his eyes off the child now staring at him. "What is evil?" The boy looked like he was going to respond but instead started into a fit of coughing. No doubt do to the smoke and ash.

"Hand him here" the nurse commanded. She took the boy and quickly started giving orders to her partners. The young firefighter followed them to the ambulance, watching as they worked. He watched as they gently placed an oxygen mask on the boy, and how they quickly were given another order and moving on to finish it. His eyes then fell back to the child.

The boy was obviously hiding a lot of pain, probably some broken bones to add to his difficulty breathing. He verged on the fence of consciousness.

"What is evil kid?" The young man asked desperately.

"Sir, please step away," the nurse said as she blocked his path.

"No. He was saying something."

"He more than likely has a concussion sir; of course he is talking nonsense." She climbed up into the ambulance.

No. He had to know. He didn't know why, but he had to know what the kid was going to say. "What were you saying kid? What's evil?" he yelled into the ambulance as the nurse pushed him away. The boy's eyes were slowly closing. He was losing consciousness.

"The world" he said weakly. "The world is evil…" His eyes shut with the ambulance doors as they sped away, filling the streets of London with sirens once again.

::Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed, and I'd love to hear some feedback! -RR


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again! Here's Chapter 2. Please read and review and as always, enjoy! -Rue-Rikuto

**Disclaimer: **Psh. Nope. I do not own Death Note.

Chapter 2

I couldn't tell what was going on in his mind. He was still in shock I knew that, but of course he would be. The boy had just lost his parents; he had no other family to speak of, and was immediately thrown into a new place. I honestly can't imagine what the boy was going through right then. It must have been awful. I still remember when I first met him. I had gotten the call from Anderson's Orphanage by Glenda, she was an old friend of my wife's and asked if I could come in and talk to the boy. Apparently, he had asked if he could send in some information to the police department about a current case they were working on, and after much begging and pleading from the child, one of the care takers finally took it there. Sure enough, that information helped them solve the case.

The chief wanted to know where the information came from, but he never found out. This happened a few times. Whenever a case was taking too long (by the boy's standards) he would ask to send something in to solve it. These cases were the reason for Glenda's call to me.

After she filled me in on some of the details, I knew in an instant I had to meet this boy. So I drove down to Anderson's Orphanage and walked through the doors. It looked and sounded exactly as you'd think it would. Children were running around screaming, laughing, and crying, sounds that could have so many explanations.

My eyes danced around the rooms looking at all the young boys wondering which one might be the little genius I had heard so much about. Was it the boy with brown hair hidden under a ball cap with a red sweater and jeans? He was currently standing above a group of children, walking around them, lightly touching each one of their heads till finally he chose one and took off running. He seemed to be the conductor and educator of the whole game and looked like a natural born leader. He was intelligent I could tell that. Could it be him? However, my thoughts were interrupted by Glenda, a voice I recognized all too well. Sure enough, I turned around and immediately felt two arms wrap around me. We embraced for a moment as we went through the usual "how have you been, great to see yous" before she pulled away and I looked down at her chubby older face. Wow, had it really been three years since I'd seen her?

"Quillish," she said "about what we talked about earlier, you know, about the boy, I'm afraid I forgot to mention something. He isn't what you're going to expect." I laughed it off.

"C'mon Glenda, I'm sure I can handle him." She waved her hands in front of her.

"Oh, no doubt in my mind Quillish, but I just wanted to warn you that the boy is...odd." her word choice surprised me a little.

"Odd?" I asked.

"Well," she adjusted her glasses looking down at the floor. "Just come with me. I'll let you meet him." She turned on her heel and started to walk down the hallway. I quickly followed, my curiosity increasing with each step I took. The boy was smart. So what if his intelligence makes him seem a bit off? It's nothing I haven't seen, and it's nothing I can't help. We walked for a little while until we came to a large room. Most of the children were playing. It looked a lot like the scene I had witnessed when I first came in. All gathered in a circle playing some kind of game, with a few drawing at a table, and a couple of girls playing with a doll house. But there was one thing that was very different. More like one person.

Over in the corner, away from the rest of the children was a small figure curled up in a chair reading. I knew then it had to be him. And sure enough, Glenda started to lead me in his direction. The boy was wearing a long sleeve blue and white striped shirt and some overalls that looked a little big on him due to the fact that he had to roll up the bottoms of them. In fact..., his whole outfit looked at least two sizes bigger than they should be. The boy was small for his age.

Before I knew it, we were standing directly in front of him. His head was still down with his nose in his book. He either didn't know we were there or he chose to ignore us.

"L? L honey, I want you to meet someone." He looked up shocked. He must have really been invested in that book. What was he reading? "This is Mr. Quillish Whammy." She said with a smile. I was taken aback by the boy for a moment. It was the boy's eyes. His grey eyes were so wide and full of wonder and curiosity as they were analyzing every move, every gesture, and every breath I took.

"Pleased to meet you young man." I said with a slight bow of my head, while keeping my eyes on the boy. I couldn't let him win this little staring contest. He glanced down and then back up at me and extended his hand towards me.

"Hello Sir." He said in a soft voice. I took his hand and shook it slowly.

"Well you certainly are a polite little gentleman aren't you?" I chuckled. "Now L, Is that a nickname or short for something?" The boy looked down again, removing his hand from mine, and quickly picked back up his book to read. "Well, shy are we?" I chuckled again, but Glenda pulled me a few steps away from him, and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"He doesn't talk about it much, or talk much at all really, but he doesn't like his name for some reason and asked us to just call him by that. It's kind of like a nickname."

I cleared my throat, nodded and headed back over to the boy. "L, I came here to talk to you about what you sent to the police department." He didn't look up but rather curled a little tighter. "Could you show me the process that made you come to that conclusion about the Johnston Robbery case?" He curled tighter. He couldn't get rid of me that easy. I could crack him. "L? I'd really like to know. I'm very interested in your work. And I-"

"...it was just a matter of percentages..."

I barely heard the soft voice that had spoken earlier. His voice was not only soft but slightly monotone even though it was colored by his British accent. It was clear; this boy did not want to talk to me or anyone for that matter. He didn't want to be interrupted at all. He just wanted to sit there reading whatever it was he was reading.

"Percentages?" I asked knowing exactly what he was referring to in the case.

"Yes sir" was his response. He really isn't much of a talker at all apparently. "So, you like math?" I asked.

"Yes sir." He responded again, lowering his head further. "What else do you like?"

"Reading." He answered quickly.

Hmmm, polite yes, but can have an attitude, which he was trying to make clear. "So you like learning. Anything specific?"

"No sir."

I sighed. He was not wanting to go anywhere with this, but I had an idea, because the child was smart, very smart. I stood back up after crouching down to his level for so long and pulled Glenda away from him again for a moment.

"I'm sorry Qullish; he's just still in shock I suppose. I mean it was only a week ago and I haven't even seen him grieve for them at all! I told you he's odd. He's just a child and he should be grieving more." I raised my hand in front of my face.

"No, no, no worries. He seems like a perfectly wonderful child. I think he'll do great there." I smiled looking back at the boy. "Could you go ahead and start with the paper work so we can transfer him over?" Her face gleamed with satisfaction from my answer.

"Yes, yes! Oh yes right away!" She turned and looked at the boy again before practically skipping out of the room. I turned my eyes back to the boy. And saw him shift his eyes quickly back down to his book. I chuckled. He thought I didn't see him. I walked toward him again, crouched down to his level and gently pushed the book down to see his face. He looked up at me.

"Yes Mr. Whammy?" He said innocently. I looked him straight in his wide grey eyes.

"You were trying to figure out what we were talking about. And you didn't want to talk until Ms. Glenda left the room because you wanted her to speak with me while you were present so you could figure out why I am here. This is why you didn't say anything. You're a smart boy." I said simply. He half smiled in response.

"So I've been told." He said. I chuckled again. This boy is so unique. I looked at him and replied

"A little manipulative, but smart none the less." With the half smile still on his face, he lowered his eyes back to his book.

"Here let's have a look." I said opening my hand. He tenderly closed the book after quickly looking at the page number, and handed it to me. He seemed a little hesitant to hand it to me but did so none the less. I took it carefully in my hands to examine it. It had a green cover with gold trimming and appeared quite large when held by the boy. The green cover was a little worn but I could tell he had been taking really good care of it. "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." I read. "So you like mysteries?" He put his hands in his lap and grabbed at his overalls. He was uncomfortable now. I was asking something about him personally and it made him uncomfortable. He'll be fine. His eyes never lost focus from mine as he fiddled with the fabric and that half smile returned on his face.

"Oh yes, I love mysteries."

I smiled. "Me too...Sherlock is my favorite." The boy looked at me and half chuckled, now looking down at his hands that were still fiddling away. I didn't take my eyes off him. "What's your favorite case?" I asked. He looked up again. Finally closing his hands together and placing them in his lap.

A full smile was on the boy's face when he replied almost embarrassed "I don't have one. I love all of them."

I chuckled as I looked down at the book in my hands. I placed my hand on top of the cover, and handed it back to him. "Me too." The paper work was finished a few hours later, and he and I were on our way back to Winchester the next day.

:: Let me know what you think so far. Thank you for reading! -RR


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